Of N-plant safety

In its post-Fukushima review of nuclear safety, India has ramped up safeguards at its atomic power plants with three layers of power back-ups, water pipes drawn from off-site locations, elevated water towers and options for injecting nitrogen to prevent explosions. With public concern over nuclear power spiking after the Japanese disaster and protests threatening flagship projects in Kudankulam and Jaitapur, the government had to move swiftly to beef up plant security. Sources claimed the safety protocols were among the safest worldwide. At the Fukushima plant, overheating of the reactor core, after the March 11 tsunami, knocked out power sources triggering fears of a meltdown. All Indian plants will have diesel generators and battery back up to supplement a nuclear plant’s regular power supply in an emergency shutdown. Keeping in mind that the Japanese tsunami also damaged alternate power sources, back up at plants vulnerable to such damage will be protected from effects of flooding and tidal waves. They will be located at higher points and protection against extreme weather events will be reinforced. Sources said the measures were implemented at most nuclear plants after a study by four expert groups following a review ordered by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Actions prescribed by the expert committees include the stress tests that Department of Atomic Energy secretary Srikumar Banerjee said have been conducted successfully. India’s nuclear installations have passed the structural tests aimed at assessing their capacity to withstand massive seismic shocks. India’s vulnerability to tsunami-like events is assessed to be relatively low. The government hopes that the safety plan will address the “safety debate”.